Q Family

Also if you don’t pick $100 each excursions the leftover credit can be used to book a 3rd one. That is what we did, chipped in $18 for the remaining balance on 3rd one

We live in Lakewood Wa so closer to Mt. Rainer. Two tips

1) always leave early to hit arrival to when park opens as it can be up to a 2 hr wait in a backed up traffic line if you wait til mid morning/afternoon.

2) if weather is not clear you can be right next to Mt and not see it lol  Up here we use the phrase “ the mountain is out”

She is beautiful though 😁❤️

We leave the 25th for a 10 night Mexican Rivera and Sea of Cortez cruise on Zaandam, and I am not worried. You should be cautious and street smart no matter where you travel, We have been to Mexico in the past with zero issues.

4 hours ago, AV8rix said:

I'm solo and always book guarantee insides (although sometimes take upsells).  I have 13 years on HAL and the following is my experience.

 

I have NEVER (literally NEVER) been assigned to an N or even an M.  Here's why: Those undesirable staterooms are ALWAYS assigned to contract personnel (entertainers, etc).  The contractors are not considered crew and so are not forced to stay below decks in crew quarters.  However, the hotel management doesn't "waste" the desirable staterooms on them, since they are not paying. 

 

So don't worry about getting assigned to those Ns or Ms if you booked a guarantee inside.  You'll undoubtedly be assigned to something more desirable.

 

JMO.

We were assigned an M 😮

Thank you for the reply, so they basically guarantee you at what they consider the “least desirable “ and anything more than that is a bonus.

Sorry as I am sure this has been asked a million times, but I am having a hard time finding a specific answer.

Is a N inside cabin the highest/ best inside or is it the lowest category of inside ?

I ask because if you book a guaranteed inside N category. Would an assigned M cabin be below N on the cabin scale ?

Are cabins are ranked lowest as A and highest as N

or

Are they are ranked as N highest and A lowest ?

I am just trying to understand, not complaining.

We usually book a guaranteed but I am just now realizing I really dont understand how it works. Maybe it is just a mystery of the universe thing ?

On 3/7/2023 at 2:07 PM, spleenstomper said:

I’m in my early 50s and I was so excited to find my people on HAL on Westerdam in September! I’m in Jammies at 8:30 and had been used to Carnival before the kids were “grown and flown”…
 

HAL is like a RV crowd: early to bed, early to rise. The ship is popping at 6 am 😁 

 

 

On 3/4/2023 at 8:59 AM, Alabaster Cruiser said:

Just trying to let others know since it is new to Holland.  That's what Cruise Critic used to be about.  Obviously not anymore from the rude replys.

I appreciate the info, I saw a video on YouTube and was confused as to what it was.

thank you

6 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

To add to this discussion, do people take their door decorations home with them, or dump them in the trash for the ship to dispose?

 

Considering how many past amenities we used to get - individual sized portions - yogurt, cereal, bathroom supplies, jams, condiments etc - but were eliminated in the name of the new green "zero waste" demands placed on cruise ships. 

 

So hopefully, passengers who are into door decorations, do pack them out when they leave the ship.

We only use the one magnet 5”x8” and use it every cruise we take our son on. Zero Waste.

23 hours ago, Gunther1 said:

A couple of times I have talked to a passenger that is ( or their SO) in the early stages of dementia and they mentioned that having a decoration on their door has saved them from panicking when looking for their room.  
 

A picture of their spouse , grandchildren, etc, can help a lot while cabin  #xxxx means nothing to them.

We cruise with our teenage Developmentally delayed Autistic son. We place a flat magnet with our last name on it to help him find the right room. Without that it is terribly hard for him to verify if he has the right room. Is sad in my mind that a device to assist with a handicap or illness is considered something tacky.

76 for us. Mexican Rivera and Sea of Cortez 10 day cruise 😁

21 hours ago, janmcn said:

Always book cabins depending on itinerary! Everything from inside (only the big J cabins though) to Neptunes and everything in between.

Thanks as this is helpful sometimes I can not figure out the letter difference on cabins. I shall look for J insides 🙂

I thank everyone for their input..seems I am not the odd duck after all..calling Mom to tell her she is the odd duck 😁😁

Our first trip on her will be 3/2023 😁

1 hour ago, OlsSalt said:

The only time I really dislike an inside cabin is not waking up to daylight. And waking up in the middle of the night and not getting outside clues as to the time.   The rest of the time, I agree public spaces are fine and being in the inside cabin at night is pretty much the same - window or not. 

 

Has anyone found a clock that creates gradual daylight glows appropriate for the hour? I tried leaving the ship forward webcam on the TV monitor on, but that did not work for me. I needed a bedside "sunrise" clock.  Of course the fun time is during the midnight sun cruises up north or south, when one wishes they had an inside cabin after all. Light still floods in the slightest cracks in the drawn curtains- fastened closed or not. 

 

On another cruise line we had a porthole cabin, but we were also traversing "pirate areas" near the horn of Africa so we were required to have all port holes cabin windows screwed shut, We knew what was coming as we heard the cabin steward come down the hall and the loud screeching of those heavy port hole bolts  with each turn. 

 

Oh dear we thought, we paid for a "window" but got an inside cabin after all. Heavy seas would also require the same thing. We were pretty low to the water line. 

 
The mail store with the big A has them ( not sure if we can name names on here)

1 hour ago, wdw1972 said:

For me an inside stateroom is not a possibility - I refuse to stay in what's basically a large walk-in closet.  I want daylight and nightlight - through a large window at the least.  I usually book solo, and opt for ocean view most of the time.  That's cheaper than a verandah, which is what I book some of the time.  When cruising with DH I go larger - we're cruising together Nov/Dec and I booked a signature suite (SS).  We don't cruise together often, so I wanted to make it nicer than a regular size stateroom.  If I were to get an amazingly cheap upsell offer to a Neptune I might take it, but as a 4-star mariner already have the perks I care about.  A Pinnacle suite is something I can't bring myself to pull the trigger on - can do a couple cruises (or more) for the cost of 1 Pinnacle.

 

Sue/WDW1972

I suppose it helps us as my husband works a late shift and we have blackout curtains in our bedroom. Will be just like home !!

2 hours ago, jeh10641 said:

My wife and I prefer inside cabins for economic reasons. I would prefer to spend money on specialty dining or shore excursions. I am making an exception to this on our Anthem of the Seas transatlantic in Oct. 2023. The price for 15 nights in a forward facing large (214 sq. ft.) Ocean View was about 10% less than our Dec. 21 Rotterdam Small Inside (160 sq. ft.). First OV since 1989 on Costa Riviera.

 

Jim

Nice, I tell myself I will book a suite on my retirement cruise 😁

1 minute ago, Btimmer said:

We almost always book an inside cabin no matter what length the voyage.  Our longest has been 60 days and the shortest 10 days.  Once we received an upgrade at the gangway to an ocean view for a 44 day Amazon/Caribbean cruise and that was nice.  We just rebooked an obstructed verandah cruise to Iceland/Greenland to an inside cabin as we weren't able to book an inside cabin at the time we booked the cruise.  It was a MAJOR savings in the fare price plus we eliminated the Have It All component as it just doesn't pencil out for us. 

 

We are literally never in the cabin except to change clothes and/or sleep.  We're out and about from morning to nearly midnight most days.

 

When we have brought grandkids along, we do get a window or balcony cabin so as to give them some view.

  The savings can be really nice and I would rather use $$ on excursions rather than a fancy cabin we are hardly ever in.

Am I the only one who changes cabin type with every cruise ? My Mom & Dad always go with a balcony no matter what, and think I am an odd duck. We prefer a cabana rental with an inside room for HAL ships that have them, we love being on deck and having our own space. If no cabana and a scenic trip like say Alaska we pick a balcony. We have only cruised with HAL and have been on 5 cruises now, Next March we are doing a 10 day Mexican Rivera & Sea of Cortez on Zaandam and we have gone with inside cabin as we have mostly 6 hour excursions picked for the 5 back to back days in ports, and we will not be in cabin much during the day.

Do most people have a preferred class a cabin and stick to it mostly ? Just curious...and maybe I don't want to be the only odd duck 🙂

4 hours ago, Crew News said:

If you are thinking now, buy some future cruise deposits while on  board your cruise.  You do not need an appointment rather pick up a form, complete it with the number of deposits you wish to purchase, and just drop it into the drop box by the Future Cruise Consultant desk.  When you use the deposits, you will get some onboard credit and if you book the next cruise within 60 days, you will get some more onboard credit.

 

Book a cruise as soon as the season bookings are available if you want a specific stateroom and flying excursions with limited seating.

We have talked about this but never seem to get it done, I told DH we were definitely doing this in March. If you turn in paperwork do they just take it from held credit card ? I will have no problem booking a new cruise in 60 days lol 

On 4/10/2022 at 2:15 PM, zhuangcorp said:

Ha! I thought I might be the only person on the planet that booked a cruise 8 months in advance. 

Good to know. 

 

But now I can't concentrate on my daily life because I keep thinking about the cruise. 

Lol we booked a year out for March of 2023 😁

7 hours ago, KroozNut said:

 Oh, trust me, you paid for that 'perk'..

True we pay a higher cost for the “promo” package but when you add it up the cost per person we are paying is still way less than if we paid for each item on its own. Which we would have bought if we didn’t get the package.  Nothing is free is a belief of mine, but that wasn’t the point to my post. Was just trying to lighten the post with our story.

I hear you 2BACRUISER,

We had to wait until we were empty nesters and had enough time in at jobs to have more than a one week vacation every year. And living on West coast helps with costs when it comes to flying in to port cities. When I hit that book button I felt so very lucky. 🙂

Call me crazy but we book because we like to cruise, I don't think I would ever book a cruise based on their beverage package. That being said we have always received the SBP as a perk at no cost, we add a soda card for a very reasonable price before boarding as we prefer a soda with dinner and it just takes the worry out of counting drinks. My DH and myself tried to do the 15 drink limit while on last cruise, we chose a sea day and didn't have any 0 proof drinks...I was unable to drink my ordered 12th drink. and DH husband had his 15th drink in hand when he stumbled while walking into cabin and lost it. LOL 

After 5 different 7 day cruises, we have booked our 1st 10 day cruise to The Mexican Rivera & Sea of Cortez for next March. I guess you could say we are taking baby steps, my next goal is a 28 day cruise 🙂